I’m dropping slices of lime into my water. Plunk! is the sound they make.
My family has recently purchased a new refrigerator, one of the ones with a water dispenser. It has an ice dispenser, too, and you can pick if you want it crushed or cubed.

I like it better than water from the tap. It moves too fast from the faucet and doesn’t look clear. I like watching the clear water flow into my cup. Also, from what I am told, it’s filtered. Imagine that! Filtered water dispensed by your refrigerator! How fascinating.

Water is one of those things that bring us all together, I think. It’s essential. And it’s such a shame to see people waste it.

On the planet Arrakis, water is so precious, the Fremen spit on you as a sign of respect.

What do we do here? We dump it. We let it swirl down the drain, we pollute it. We see our oceans and lakes and rain and taps and think it’s all fine because the Earth is 70% water. But fresh water only makes up for about 3% of the Earth’s water supply, and most of that water are glaciers and ice caps. So there really isn’t that much drinkable water.
Americans, on average, use about 120 gallons per person a day. In the UK, it’s about 40 gallons/person, and in China, 22 gallons/person. Over forty percent of all countries are facing a water shortage. But still, we overuse and pollute the resource.

How can we overuse a product that brings us all together as people rather than utilize it?

As a poor undergrad, I know all too well the routine of going out to eat but ordering water instead of other drinks because WATER IS FREE AND I AM NOT GOING TO PAY TWO DOLLARS FOR YOU TO GIVE ME FLAT SODA WITH WAY TOO MANY ICE CUBES IN IT SO WHEN THE ICE MELTS I’M DRINKING WATER ANYWAY. But what happens when that water holds a charge? It’s impossible to manufacture water, it can only be found in nature. And as population rises, eventually there will not be enough water to supply the population.

On the bright side, it probably won’t happen in my lifetime or in yours and probably not even your children’s children’s.

But it’s a terrifying thought. This resource that we feel is endless is not.